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By Dan ElliottAssociated Press • Thursday January 3, 2013 11:00 AM

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Relatives of the majority of people killed in a Colorado movie theater
rejected an invitation yesterday to attend its reopening later this month, calling it a “disgusting
offer.”

The parents, grandparents, cousins and widow of nine of the 12 people killed released a letter
sent to the theater’s owner, Cinemark, in which they criticized the Plano, Texas-based company for
not reaching out to the families of victims to offer their condolences. They also said the company
refused to meet with them one-on-one without lawyers present.

The families said they were asked to attend an “evening of remembrance” followed by a movie when
the Aurora theater reopens on Jan. 17 in invitations sent two days after Christmas.

“Thanks for making what is a very difficult holiday season that much more difficult. Timing is
everything and yours is awful,” they wrote.

The company had no immediate comment.

Cinemark has been renovating the Aurora theater, a move the city’s mayor said had widespread
support in the community. Gov. John Hickenlooper is among those planning to attend the
re-opening.

The families of some victims have sued Cinemark. The father of the youngest person killed in the
shooting, 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, is among them. He didn’t sign the letter, but the
girl’s grandparents did.

Also yesterday, prosecutors and defense lawyers said they are ready for a crucial hearing next
week in which prosecutors will outline their case against James Holmes, who is charged with killing
12 people and wounding 70 on July 20 during the midnight showing of the Batman movie
The Dark Knight Rises.

The hearing starts Monday and is scheduled to run all week. At its conclusion, state District
Judge William B. Sylvester will decide if the evidence is sufficient to put Holmes on trial.

Holmes didn’t say anything during yesterday’s half-hour hearing.

He is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder and hasn’t been
asked to enter a plea yet. His lawyers have said he suffers from mental illness.

Next week’s preliminary hearing will give the public its first officially sanctioned look at
much of the evidence against Holmes.

Sylvester has barred attorneys and investigators from speaking publicly about the case, and many
documents have been sealed.

The University of Colorado, where Holmes was a graduate student, also has been tight-lipped.

At prosecutors’ request, Sylvester barred the university from releasing records requested by
numerous media organizations. Prosecutors argued that the information could jeopardize Holmes’
right to a fair trial. Sylvester initially agreed but amended his order last month to allow the
release after media organizations objected in court.

Holmes was enrolled in a doctoral neuroscience program at the university. Investigators said he
began stockpiling firearms and ammunition while taking classes in the spring.

In June, he made threats to a professor, and on June 10 he filed withdrawal papers after failing
a year-end exam, prosecutors said. The next day he saw his school psychiatrist, who tried to report
him to a campus security committee, according to Holmes’ lawyers.